HAMILTON – Review – Pure Brilliance

MAYFLOWER THEATRE – until 26th April and then continuing tour

Review: pHayward 21st March 2025

Southampton audiences have been waiting seven years to see the musical Hamilton and now they can. This is the first UK touring production and it set out from Manchester in 2023, breaking records wherever it has played. It is in Southampton for six weeks and amazingly there are still tickets available, though I can’t imagine there will be for long.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical is unlike any show Southampton has ever seen before – it is better in every respect than anything that may have graced the stage of Mayflower Theatre, in it’s almost 100 year history. Miranda composed this remarkable musical over a seven-year period, beginning in 2008, with its eventual premiere in 2015 in Lower Manhattan, where Miranda himself played the title role. At the same time as I saw Miranda’s previous musical ‘In The Heights’ which I labelled ground-breaking and till today it is still one of my favourite musicals.

Hamilton is labelled ‘a musical’ but it so much more. The story is told as it might be in an opera, with more than 20,000 sung-through words, taking us through the US’s newfound independence and constitution, from the perspective of the first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton. It is told in a whirl of rap battles and revolutionary pamphlets, military attire and elegant robes à l’Anglaise. What is amazing is through all of this there comes the story with perfect clarity, crisply clear and each word sung delivering its message with a dramatic punch. It sets one wondering whether things across the Atlantic have moved forward, backwards or are in the same state of flux.

In Thomas Kail’s production, co-directed with choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, the interchanges and individual movements of the ensemble, so perfectly choreographed, overshadow many performances we see from professional dance and ballet companies. The staging is incredible, yet subtle. When the curtain first lifts it unveils one of the most impressive sets I have seen. The audience audibly gasped at the sight of the massive stone, brickwork and wood set, reflecting the 18th century and featuring nautical ropes, catwalks, and scaffolding, driven by revolve stages. From the beginning, it was clear that Hamilton was going to be very special.

The casting is absolute perfection, in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton, Marley Fenton is the poetic dreamer, bonehead and fervent nation-builder. A man realising his own potential as he strives to do the same for his country. The lawyer Aaron Burr is played by Billy Nevers, a character defined by his interminable nature, who delivers ‘The Room Where It Happens’ as if possessed. And then, when alone but together with Fenton, performs ‘Dear Theodosia’, with fragile beauty. George Washington, Hamilton’s mentor, played by Akmed Junior Khemali has exactly the right mix of gruff determination and fatherliness. KM Drew Boateng brings a fierceness and explosive nature to the role of Hercules Mulligan. Ashley J. Daniels is Lafayette who revels in his own rhymes and then he returns transformed, as Thomas Jefferson as smooth as his velvet coat. Roshani Abbey plays Eliza, Hamilton’s loving but long suffering wife. who creates her young family’s world carefully, which makes it’s inevitable demise even more poignant with her renditions of ‘Burn’ and ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’. Chastity Crisp as Angelica, emotionally delivers ‘Satisfied’ with a fitting rage of frustration. Louis Maskell’s King George, wearing sparkly crown and nauseating grin, is every inch the spoilt child. As the bewigged monarch attempts to keep up with the freestyling ensemble during The Reynolds Pamphlet, you have a flash of just how ridiculous an 18th-century hip-hop musical could have looked. But Miranda’s contribution to the on-going saga of America has become a work of bulletproof brilliance.

For 2¾ hours the entire cast are together, in control and deliver at the peak of their incredible skills. The orchestra under the leadership of Zach Flis are perfectly balanced and flawlessly engage with their on-stage performers. It is no wonder that ‘Hamilton’ has garnered 5 star reviews wherever it has played – never has a musical told so complicated a story as well, with every performance deserving of a major award, every song becoming a chapter in the story. The design teams associated with this touring production have brought 18^th century America to Southampton with crystal clarity – Rod Lemmond’s sets, Angela Kahler’s costumes, Jason Crystal’s sound and Warren Letton’s lighting – together breathing life into history.

The audience’s reception of Hamilton was overwhelming, with a diverse crowd spanning different age groups, ethnicities and backgrounds. It is a testament to Hamilton’s broad appeal and its ability to unite people through the power of storytelling and music. For much of the show the audience had been pulled into the show, they were captivated and for long periods you could literally hear a pin drop and then they would erupt into unbridled enthusiasm with their applause and cheers at the end of a number.

Whether you are a seasoned theatregoer or new to the world of stage, Hamilton promises an unforgettable experience. So, take this opportunity and prepare yourself to be swept off your feet by its brilliance. And for me there was so much to take in— I can’t wait to go again!